Disclaimer: I don't own Xena: Warrior Princess or Gabrielle. I do, however, own Ariadne, Gabriel, and Aella.

This is set towards the beginning of Season 5, after "Succession" but before "Animal Attraction".

…..

Long Lost

….

"You can't stand the silence, can you, Gabby?"

"I can so! I like listening to the birds and the wind through the trees. I just like to talk. And I like to talk to you the most, Gabe."

Green eyes twinkled. "I like talking to you, also, Gabby. I love you."

"I love you, too."

….

The village looked like any other village they had been to in the past five years they had been traveling together. Gabrielle wasn't really interested in much else besides the inn and maybe the dry goods store right across from said inn. She was tired, cold, hungry, and in desperate need of a bath. And she was starting for feel a little irritated as well.

For the past few days, Xena had been quiet. And not just normal Warrior Princess quiet but abnormally quiet. No matter what the blonde said or asked, Xena would always respond with one or two word answers or just a grunt. The one that got to Gabrielle the most was the answer she gave last night.

"Not tonight."

Gods, how frustrating. Of course, Gabrielle wasn't going to bother mentioning that she had propositioned the warrior just out of curiosity. She had wanted to see her partner's response. They hadn't made love in…gods, in so long. In fact, it seemed to Gabrielle that a distance was rapidly making itself known between them. And it was breaking her heart even more than the events before their deaths did.

She looked over at Xena, who was staring ahead, her eyes set on the inn. 'I can't take much more of this silence,' the leather clad blonde thought. 'I need some time to myself.'

"Xena, I'm going to the dry goods store across from the inn. We need supplies."

All she got was a nod. Not even a flicker of a gaze in her direction. Not even a grunt. And the blonde's heart broke a little more.

She watched her partner lead Argo toward the inn. 'Maybe it's me,' she thought grimly. 'Maybe she's finally sick of me.'

She sighed and walked into the dry goods store, knowing that her self-pity needed to be put aside so she could concentrate on buying the goods they needed. "Besides,' she thought. 'Xena will need some supplies when she finally tells me to leave her alone.'

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the little girl until small arms were wrapped around her legs and a soft blonde head was resting on her thigh.

Gabrielle started and looked down at the child attached to her leg. "Um, hello." She said softly.

The blonde head moved and a little face was soon turned up, sea green eyes staring into her own.

"HI!" the girl said with a grin.

"Aella!"

A breathless brunette came around the corner, her green eyes frantic. "Why did you leave me, sweetie?"

"I saw her," the girl said, pointing up at Gabrielle with one hand while the other was still wrapped around her leg.

"Her?" the woman finally seemed to realize that the girl was wrapped around some stranger's leg and looked up. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "By the gods," she muttered.

Gabrielle felt her confusion shoot to the sky at the woman's reaction but she was distracted when Aella brought her attention back to her.

"Do you know my daddy?"

"Um," Gabrielle began. "I don't know. What's his name?"

Aella raised an eyebrow and looked at Gabrielle like she was an idiot. "Daddy."

The woman seemed to come back to herself and blinked. "Aella, don't use that tone of voice." She then looked back at Gabrielle and smiled. "I'm sorry. My name is Ariadne and this is my daughter, Aella."

Gabrielle smiled and shook the woman's hand. "I'm Gabrielle. It's nice to meet you both."

Ariadne seemed to start at Gabrielle's name but quickly hid it with another smile. She looked back at her daughter, who was still clinging to Gabrielle's leg. "She seems to have developed a fondness for you," she said to Gabrielle, her eyes not leaving the little girl, who by this time was looking around the store without letting go of the bard's leg.

"Apparently," Gabrielle said with a small smile.

"Aella," Ariadne said. "Let Gabrielle go so we can go home, okay?"

Aella shook her head and looked up at Gabrielle. "I want G-brielle to come with us."

"Sweetie, I don't know. Gabrielle probably has somewhere to be."

The bard's mind flew to Xena, who was probably sitting in the inn relishing the quiet.

"Actually," Gabrielle said with a forced smile. "I don't. I'd love to spend a little more time with Aella, if that's okay? I haven't had a chance to unwind in a while." And she could always send a message to Xena, telling her where she was.

Ariadne studied Gabrielle, seeming to take everything in about her that she could. "Okay," she said after a while. "We'll introduce Gabrielle to your daddy, how's that, Aella?"

"Good!" Aelle said with a grin that looked so familiar to Gabrielle that it sent her back almost thirteen years.

…..

"Come on, Gabby! You can do it!"

"No, I can't, Gabe. I'm too short!"

"That doesn't matter! I got up here!"

Green eyes studied the branch above her head. "You're taller than I am!"

"By under half a hand! It isn't hard. Just jump up and grab it!"

She bit her lower lip, bent her knees, and jumped. And grabbed the branch with small hands. With a grunt she pulled herself up and straddled the branch with a grin. "I did it!"

A grin spread across a face almost identical to her own. "You did! I knew you could!"

She grinned a matching grin. "Thanks, Gabe."

…

"An' this is our house!"

Gabrielle smiled at the little girl and studied the small farmhouse in front of her. They had walked a short distance from the village with Aella practically pulling Gabrielle by the hand the whole way while the younger blonde talked incessantly the entire time.

"DADDY!" Aella yelled. "We're home! And I made a new friend!"

As the group got closer to the house, the front door opened and a deep voice came from within.

"So, my little whirlwind made a new friend? Let's hope this one isn't as crazy as my daughter!"

A man stepped out of the house, his blonde hair long enough to touch his chin and his green eyes dancing with mischief. He had on dark red leather pants and a red top that clung to his chest, showing off his muscles.

Gabrielle's breath hitched and she felt her eyes widen. "Oh, gods," she whispered.

Aella let go of Gabrielle's hand and ran up to her daddy, throwing her arms around him and squealing in delight when he lifted her up in his arms. "Daddy, my new friend's name is G-brielle!"

Ariadne stood just behind Gabrielle, interested in how this scene was going to play out.

"G-brielle?" The man looked up and green eyes met identical green eyes.

…..

"What do you mean, they laughed at you?"

She sniffed and rubbed her eyes. "I was just trying to tell a story and they wouldn't let me. I told them it as about a woman warrior hoping to get them interested and they just laughed at me and told me that women couldn't be warriors."

"Oh, Gabby. I'm sorry they laughed."

She shrugged but snuggled into his side when he put his arm around her shoulders. "I'm used to it. It just upset me that they don't think that women can be warriors."

He smiled and rubbed her shoulder. "They just don't know any better. But you do."

She looked up and her watery eyes met his twinkling ones. "Yeah, I do. And I think that one day I'll really meet a woman who is the best warrior out there!"

…..

"Gabby?"

"Gabe?"

Time seemed to stand still. Two people who hadn't seen each other in almost thirteen years stared across a short distance, both scared to move in case it broke the hallucination in front of them.

The man slowly put Aella down, who was just as silent as the adults around her, and took a hesitant step towards Gabrielle.

"Gabrielle." He whispered, slowly coming out of his shock.

"Gabriel." She answered, following his lead and taking a step toward him.

"Oh, my gods!" he said in a louder voice.

That snapped Gabrielle out of her shock and she sprinted towards him, tackling him in a hug so tight that it knocked him to the ground. He didn't seem to mind as his arms wrapped around the small blonde.

Tears were running down Gabrielle's cheeks but a smile wide enough to split her face was radiating from within.

Ariadne looked on with a grin on her own face as the small blonde tackled her husband. This was a family reunion that seemed to be from a play performed in Athens. It almost didn't seem real.

"Mommy, way is Brielle hugging Daddy like that?"

"Because, sweetie, he just found his sister."

….

They had been out in the fields playing that day. Their mother had told them to come in but they didn't listen. They were having too much fun.

They were so engrossed in their game of warriors, they didn't hear the pounding of horse hooves until it was too late. They were suddenly surrounded by bandits, six of them, on horses. And these bandits were smiling in a way that sent chills down the two ten year olds' backs.

"Well, well," one bandit said with a sneer. "What do we have here? Two little children out here with no one else around. What should we do with them?"

Gabriel looked over at his sister, who was obviously terrified if her wide green eyes were any indication. He grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes when she glanced his way.

'Run,' he thought.

'No, not without you,' she communicated with her eyes.

'Get help. I'll be fine.'

'No!'

He looked at the bandits, who were laughing and discussing on what price they could get for two cute children on the slave market.

"NOW!" he shouted.

She hesitated for a spilt second then ran. She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. And she didn't look back. A fact that would plague her for years to come.

She got the help she went for. But it was too late. They had taken her twin brother. They had taken the one person in the village that didn't think she was different. They had taken her only friend.

Her parents had a funeral for him two moons later. He was dead, they said. There was no way he wasn't. They had searched but couldn't find him.

She knew he wasn't dead. But she was ten. She couldn't go searching for him.

But seven years later, her savior came in the form of a black haired, blue-eyed warrior. And while they traveled and developed a relationship, she secretly searched for him.

…

"Look at you," Gabriel said after they dusted themselves off.

Gabrielle looked down at herself and took in her red Amazon top and short skirt, boots, and sai. "Yeah, look at me," she said with a grin.

"Look at these muscles!" he exclaimed, swatting her stomach.

She grabbed his hand and punched him in the bicep, making him grimace with a quirky grin. "Ow!" he said, rubbing his arm.

She smiled and searched his face. "It's really you, isn't it?"

His grin turned into a smile. "If you are really Gabrielle, the girl I knew for the first ten years of my life and who knew every little thing about me, then yeah…it's really me."

She pulled him into a rough hug once more and breathed in his scent. It had changed but there was still a hint of what she remembered about him, golden sunshine and spring.

"Where have you been?" she asked softly into his neck. "I've been looking for you for so long."

He sighed and slowly pulled away. "Here and there," he answered. "But mainly here. I was taken to Athens when the bandits took me. They tried to sell me but I got away. I started to make my way back home but a family found me and took me in. They said I was too small to be traveling and to wait a few years. So, I did. When I reached seventeen I headed off, determined to make my way back to Potidaea. But then I started having doubts."

"Doubts?"

Gabriel nodded. "I wasn't sure you would remember me. Or even want me back."

"I remembered you. I think about you at least once a day, if not more."

He smiled. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For giving up. I decided to settle down with Ariadne and start a family. I didn't even think to write you."

"I wouldn't have gotten it anyway," Gabrielle said. "I'm not at home anymore either."

"Obviously." Gabriel said, looking at her outfit again. He glanced behind her at his wife and daughter. "You two come over here and meet my twin sister, Gabrielle. It seems our family is growing."

…

She was irritated. All she got was a message from Gabrielle saying that she was meeting with some friends just outside of the village. She would be back in a few candlemarks.

Well, that was shit. Xena wanted more of an explanation than that. She knew she had been rough on Gabrielle these past few moons but the guilt she felt at what happened to them after they were crucified was eating her up. Her old fears of Gabrielle leaving her were coming back. And she went into self-defense mode. If I close myself off from her, she can't hurt me. She knew that wasn't a good idea but she didn't have anything else to do to stop the pain from taking over.

She neared a small farmhouse and slowed down, taking in the scene in front of her. Gabrielle was hanging onto some blonde man while a brunette woman and a small blonde child watched.

"Gabrielle?" she said as she drew nearer.

The younger woman turned and faced Xena and the warrior felt her breath catch in her throat. Gabrielle's face was glowing. Her smile was radiant and even from this distance Xena could see her eyes twinkle. She hadn't seen her partner this happy since before…

"Xena!" Gabrielle grabbed the man's hand and pulled him over to Xena, her smile getting wider. "I've found him!"

Xena eyed the man, who looked a lot like the bard. "Found who?"

"My brother! I've found him!"

Xena blinked in shock. She racked her brain, trying to remember Gabrielle ever mentioning having a brother.

A vague memory came to the forefront of her brain of the first year they were traveling together. And it made Xena feel even more guilty.

…

"And then the giant lifted his mighty hand and the warrior watched in horror as the small child-"

"Gods, Gabrielle." The warrior rolled her eyes at the young blonde. "Don't you ever shut up?"

A flash of hurt went through green eyes but it was quickly hidden by a grin. "My brother, Gabriel, used to say that."

"You have a brother?" Xena asked, only slightly interested. Her ears were mainly focused on the surrounding woods. Was that footsteps off in the distance?

"Yeah. A twin, actually. My parents believe that he's dead but I know he's not. I'm going to find him. He's out there. And I'm going to look for as long as I have to just to-"

"All I need was a yes or no, Gabrielle. Short answers are best."

That flash of hurt again; not quite covered up. "Yes, I have a brother."

"Good, discussion over."

Her brother was never mentioned again. In fact, Xena had forgotten about him completely.

…..

"And when the sheep butted you and knocked you right into the trough I thought I was going to die!"

Xena watched as Gabrielle laughed, her face glowing and her eyes twinkling.

They were all sitting around the fire in Gabriel's house. Aella was already in bed while Ariadne and Gabriel were sitting on one side of the hearth in a sort of padded bench with a back and Xena was seated in a chair with Gabrielle sitting on the floor at her feet, using the warrior's legs as a backrest. The bard's right hand was wrapped around Xena's left leg, as if to make sure the warrior was still there.

The siblings were reminiscing. And while Xena was glad to see Gabrielle so happy again, she was feeling a sort of resentment and worry. Resentment that this almost stranger was able to being the happiness back to Gabrielle's face and worry that now…now Gabrielle had somewhere she could go that would be accepting of her. Gabrielle's parents were never ones to support their daughter's way of life and with the way Xena had been treating her lately…well, Xena felt she had cause to worry.

Ariadne smiled. "So, you're telling me," she said to Gabrielle. "The sheep just turned around and knocked this lug into dirty water?"

Gabrielle nodded, still laughing. "I don't think I've ever seen a sheep look so smug before."

Gabriel blushed but gave a quick grin. "I guess I deserved it. That sheep didn't look too good with Lila's baby ribbons on him anyway."

Ariadne and Gabrielle laughed even harder and Xena even cracked a grin.

"So," Gabriel said, glancing at Xena. "It's true then."

"What is?" Gabrielle asked, wiping her eyes of the tears of laughter that were trickling out.

"You are the bard that travels with Xena: Warrior Princess."

Gabrielle gave a small gasp of surprise and glanced up at Xena. Xena looked into her partner's green eyes and slowly looked back up at the other blonde in the room.

"It's true," Xena answered. "But she's not just a bard anymore."

Gabriel smirked. "No! I've even heard her be called the "Battling Bard"."

Gabrielle blushed and looked down at her lap and bit her lip.

Xena smiled and winked at Gabriel. "She doesn't care for that title. Nor the Amazon Queen title as well."

"Amazon Queen?" Gabriel's eyes widened. "Really? I hadn't heard that one!"

Xena nodded. "Yep. Queen of the Amazons and a Battling Bard. Sounds better than Warrior Princess, in my opinion."

Gabrielle's head snapped up and she looked at Xena with surprise written all over her face. But before she could make any sort of comment, Gabriel spoke up again.

"Not only did you find your warrior woman, Gabby," he said. "But you became one as well."

"Found her what?" Xena asked, breaking eye contact with the blonde at her feet.

Gabriel smiled. "Gabrielle always dreamed of meeting a warrior who was a woman. This woman was the main character in all the stories Gabby would tell when we were little."

Ariadne nodded. "Gabe has told me some of the stories," she said softly, looking at Xena and Gabrielle with soft eyes. "They're quite good, especially considering that a five year old wrote one of them."

"You were five when you wrote one?" Xena asked Gabrielle softly.

The bard shrugged and refused to look up from her lap, her face bright red, obvious to Xena even in the fire's glow.

Gabriel continued, a smile still on his face and his eyes locked on his sister. "She would tell how this warrior would ride in on a golden horse and save the day. She was the fiercest warrior of them all but had the kindest, most gentlest heart as well."

…

"She loves me."

"Loves you?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

She gave a firm nod. "She loves me with all of her heart. I just know it."

"But…she might not be real, Gabby."

"She's real, Gabe. I can feel it. I can feel it in here." She put her hand over her heart. "And she loves me."

He studied her face and looked deep in her eyes then nodded. "Okay." He gave another nod. "Then we'll have to find her, won't we? We can't have you being alone your whole life."

…..

Xena felt tears well up in her eyes as Gabriel told her that. She looked back down at Gabrielle, who was still studying her lap like it was the most interesting thing she had ever seen.

"Well," Ariadne said after a few moments of silence. "We should all get to bed." She stood up. "The extra room is just down the hall," she said, pointing in that direction. "We'll continue the visit in the morning. Sleep tight!"

Xena, Gabrielle, and Gabriel all stood up as well and hugs were passed between Gabrielle and her brother and sister-in-law while Xena and Gabriel shook hands.

Moments later, after Gabrielle and Xena were snuggly under the covers of the bed in the extra room and the candle had been blown out, the blonde spoke up.

"I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable."

Xena turned to look at her through the darkness, confusion in her eyes. "What?"

Gabrielle cleared her throat and turned on her side, facing Xena. "I'm sorry if what Gabriel said about me finding my "warrior woman" embarrassed you."

"Why would it have?"

Even in the small amount of light coming from the full moon outside, Xena could see Gabrielle's eyes shifting around, refusing to look into her own blue eyes.

"Gabrielle?"

The blonde cleared her throat, as if gathering her courage to say something. "I just-" she cut herself off only to start again. "I just know that you don't feel the same anymore-"

"Don't feel the same?" Xena propped herself up on her elbow and looked down at the bard.

Gabrielle nodded. "And I can understand that. Believe me. So, I'm sorry if it bothers you to know that I've felt this way since I was little and-"

"Whoa," Xena said, cutting Gabrielle off yet again. "Why wouldn't I-" she swallowed. "Are you saying that you think I don't love you anymore?"

Silence filled the room. It was broken only by a small sniff from Gabrielle.

"Look, Xena," Gabrielle said after a while of Xena's eyes just staring at the top of her head. "I know that after what happened right before we…before…on the mountain top…" Gabrielle swallowed again. "I know it's my fault. I know I'm to blame for us getting captured and for you getting hurt so badly. And I can understand how that would make your feelings for me change." Green eyes finally looked up, tears swimming in them like small pools. "But…even knowing that…even knowing that you don't, or maybe can't, love me like that anymore…I still love you…so much. And I always will. I always have."

Xena just stared at the bard, her own tears making her eyesight blurry.

"I'm sorry Gabriel brought that up. No one else knows about it. Even the kids who would listen to the stories didn't know that I loved this warrior woman. But I did. And even after all those years…when you appeared in that clearing that day in that dirty shift, I knew. I just knew it was you. And my love for you as grown even more since that day. Even after all we've been through, after all we've said and done to each other, I still love you so fiercely that it scares me sometimes."

"Gabrielle," Xena whispered, her throat barely letting the sound through.

The blonde gave a watery grin that didn't reach her eyes. "I only ask, Xena," she whispered. "To be able to continue to travel with you."

"You don't-you don't want to stay here with Gabriel?"

Gabrielle looked back down. "Only if you want me to," she answered softly.

"No," was the equally soft answer. "No, I don't."

That got Gabrielle to look up with surprise.

"I can't imagine my life without you," Xena said. "But I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that you still love me, even after…"

As she trailed off, confusion entered Gabrielle's eyes. "After what?"

"After how I acted when we…after what happened in the afterlife."

Gabrielle's brows knitted together before comprehension dawned in her eyes. "Xena," she said, slowly putting her hand up to the warrior's cheek. "What happened in heaven…that…that doesn't matter."

"How can you say that?" Xena whispered fiercely. "How can you say it doesn't matter? I tried to send you to Hell with me!"

"And I was willing to stop you by any means necessary."

"But-"

"Xena," Gabrielle interjected, sitting up and pulling her partner up with her. "We can argue this all night long but we both know that what we did doesn't matter now."

"Why doesn't it?"

Gabrielle looked into confused blue eyes and said with a grin, "Because I say it doesn't."

That got a grin out of Xena. "Well, then," she said as she ran a gentle hand through Gabrielle's soft hair. "Then I say that what happened in that Roman compound doesn't matter."

"Xena-"

"Nope," the warrior said, smirking. "If you can say it then I can, too! No arguments."

Gabrielle slowly smiled and gave a nod. "Okay," she said. "No arguments."

Xena suddenly grabbed Gabrielle in a tight hug and took a deep breath, breathing in Gabrielle's scent, golden sunshine and spring. "I do love you, Gabrielle. I always have and I always will."

She felt a few drops of wetness on her neck and knew her bard was crying.

And the watery "I love you, too…so much," just confirmed it.

….

In the room next door, Ariadne looked at the smug look on her husband's face. "You knew, didn't you? You knew they were lovers going through a rough patch."

Green eyes twinkled. "Of course I did. Even after thirteen years apart I know my sister like the back of my hand. I may not have known the situation but I knew Gabrielle was hurting. I had to help."

Ariadne settled down in the bed and shook her head. "I don't even want to think about all the trouble you two will get into whenever they come to visit. If she gets into trouble like you, Xena and I will need to keep a close watch on you guys."

Gabriel grinned. "Just wait until Aella starts hanging around with her Aunt Gabby. Just think about that!"

"Oh, gods!" Ariadne said before Gabriel just burst out laughing. "Gods help us all!"

The End?